Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, Volume 25, Number 1

The mission statement of the university where I teach includes the goal of empowering students "to become engaged citizens who use their knowledge and skills with integrity and compassion to improve the future of our global society" (http://miamioh.edu/about-miami/leadership/ president/mission-goals/). Many high schools, colleges, and universities, both in the U.S. and abroad, hold a similar vision of graduating generations of citizens who understand and appreciate diversity (in all its manifestations) and who are dedicated to revitalizing and strengthening a broad sense of community (in all its manifestations). Yet in many of these educational settings there remains uncertainty about what it really means for students to be engaged citizens, the specific pedagogical practices best suited to this mission--such as internships, volunteering, community service, service-learning, public scholarship, and so on--the training and competency of instructors to facilitate such practices, whether the efforts currently in place are functioning as intended, and how best they should develop over time.